lana, theron, and prescience
One of Lana’s letters says Arkous felt a connection form between her and the player upon the moment of their meeting. Lana confirms it in the optional Rishi romance scene; “It’s like when we first met. I knew our fates were going to be intertwined completely”. It is implied that a similar bond springs into being when Lana encounters a Pub-side player – though Lana is less candid about it as they are loyal to opposing factions – but also that the same thing happened to her with Theron, offscreen on Maanan.
It’s not like the Force says 💛One True Work Husband💛 upon meeting Theron any more than it says ❤️Great Love Of Your Life❤️ or 💙Captain My Captain💙 or 💚Tea Buddy💚 about the player character. It’s just … this one. This one is important, pay attention. A whisper of future knowing without whys or whens or hows.
Nothing that Lana couldn’t ignore, if she chose to, but Lana trusts in the feelings she gets from the Force. She’s the one who reaches out to Theron initially, on Maanan. (Theron tells a Pub-side player that he’s received a message; Lana says that she senses the presence of a potential ally.)
On Ziost, after their original alliance has ended and while Theron is still nursing sore feelings about being trustfall dropped on Rishi, Lana seeks him out again. When the Republic and Empire have both surrendered to Zakuul and everything has gone to hell, Lana calls Theron up to join her seedling rebellion.
Much later, during the mess with the Order of Zildrog, we get to see Lana in murderous overcorrection mode. Theron was maybe the only person other than the Commander and herself who she didn’t suspect of being the mole. Even after he shoots her, Lana’s traitorous instincts are still telling her that traitorous Theron isn’t a traitor and Lana is so angry about that.
(Theron’s optional death on Nathema is something I’m inclined to write off as an unrealistic product of KotFEET’s delusion that “meaningful player choice” is providing endless opportunities to kill companion characters. Lana is stubborn and self-assured and has repeatedly blown past the player character’s objections to take what she believes is the best course of action; investigating Arkous even if you tell her not to, continuing to work with Theron even if you say it’s a bad idea, putting you in charge of the Alliance even if you don’t want it. Dragging Theron back to the shuttle with her regardless of the Commander’s objections would have been more in keeping with her character than abandoning him to die solely on their say-so.)
From my understanding, a Force bond is the manifestation within the Force of a connection that exists independently of it. Even artificially constructed bonds rather than spontaneous natural ones; after all, you wouldn’t make the decision to intentionally tie yourself to a person you had no connection with. Where things get weird is when Force precognition is added into the mix. You’re not tied to this person yet but in the kaleidoscope of the future there are a thousand possibilities where you will be. When you meet, the presence of what might be is so overwhelming that in the Force it can almost feel like what is.
Which is kind of awkward when one of your destined people turns out to be from the Republic. And also Force-blind so he has no idea what’s happened. And you let him get captured by Revanites and he takes it as a betrayal even though you didn’t mean it as one because you were certain he would survive.
Force bonds and precinct awareness aren’t necessarily markers of a positive relationship. If a person is liable to become your great nemesis whose life you will destroy as you destroy theirs before you die together with your hands around each other’s throats on a crashing ship like you’re the deuteragonists of an opera, obviously they will ping as someone of significant future import.
Theron registers to Lana as an ally, though, before they’ve even met. How could that not influence her behaviour? Lana doesn’t tell him because not being able to feel their connection means that he’s not affected by it in the way she is and because the knowing is an edge she has over him. Even though they have their little personal alliance, they still try to score over each other when the opportunity to aid the Empire at the expense of the Republic or vice versa presents itself. It’s just jostling though. Lana knows that Theron is Special and Important (and Hers). Imperial values hold that you must never hesitate to sacrifice people for the greater good of the Empire but Theron is much too Special and Important to justify loosing for any short-term gain. Theron is Lana’s Force-marked ally which makes him more useful to the Empire alive than dead.
But holding back to allow the Revanite’s to capture Theron isn’t sacrificing him because Theron will survive. Lana knows he’s been trained to resist integration, knows he’s been caught before and managed to turn the tables on those holding him. Either Theron will escape or Lana and their other allies will come for him. Lana would never truly abandon Theron unless forced to choose between him and the Empire; this is just her seizing the opportunity that has presented itself to them.
Theron doesn’t understand that though. Theron can’t feel the connection that marks him as Special and Important. He doesn’t know about the bond because Lana very intentionally failed to tell him, so he assumes that Lana was fully prepared to let him die. That Lana would be prepared to allow someone who was Special and Important (and Hers) to be tortured on short notice isn’t something that occurs to him. And that realisation is distressing for Lana because, even though she’s too proud and wary to admit it to Theron, she misjudged the consequences of her actions. She didn’t intend to break his trust in her. It’s important to Lana that Theron trust her because she trusts Theron.
(She doesn’t want them to die together as enemies on a ship crashing into an ocean moon. It may be terribly romantic in operas but in real life it’s just straight up terrible.)
